Sunday, October 11, 2015

Ever since heart surgery last December, I've wanted to make every day count. I resolved to be outdoors at least an hour each day. I've done that.

I have been strongly drawn to nearby estuaries—places where fresh water flows from streams and rivers to mingle with the sea. Estuaries are places rich with life and energy. The estuaries I'll write about most are near where I live, specifically,

Tomales Bay

The Estero Americano

The mouth of the Russian River
Drakes Estero

The San Francisco Bay and Delta

I want to visit these places more regularly and with added purpose:

to learn about estuaries,

to help protect them, and

to share what I've learned.

This blog is meant to help me accomplish all of these things.

I decided to call this blog Estuaryist because it is my aspiration to approach the estuary in a manner similar to the way an artist approaches art and a scientist approaches science: with humility, curiosity, imagination, and wonder. I will not be surprised if in the end I have more questions than answers.

So, to begin: Today I visited the Russian River's mouth by kayak.

The wind was calm when I arrived at the Jenner launch area,and the air was filled with the sound of waves exploding on the beach.

The river's mouth had been open the past few days, and I knew that the tide was soon to ebb so I paddled out carefully, not wanting to get caught in an ebbing current and swept into a turbulent on-shore wave break. Soon I could see the waves breaking and I approached the area cautiously.

To my surprise I found that the mouth had closed again despite clearly seeing ocean shore break from my kayak.

I got closer and watched for a while and observed many harbor seals belly-crawling out of the river, over the sandbar, and back into the Pacific Ocean.

You can see the seals on the right making their way to the ocean

As they leave the relative safety of the river, I wonder whether the harbor seals worry about the Great White Sharks that swim in those waters.

I had not had any breakfast, so I stopped at about 11:00 to have my sandwich on the shore opposite Jenner on the south side of Penny Island.

Estuaryist's vessel

I paddled further upriver beyond the Highway One bridge to a favorite harbor seal haul-out. I was careful not to approach so close as to bother them. They watched me as closely as I watched them.